Food glorious food......

I absolutely love food. My real weakness however, is desserts and pastries. We are going to my parents house tomorrow night for a scrumptious dinner and I am already wondering what will be on the dessert menu - sad but true.

Here is an embarrassing fact. On my first date with my now husband, I caught him smiling at me from across the table (that's not the embarrassing bit). When I asked him what he was grinning at he replied: 'Nothing. Gee, you can put it away can't you!'. I probably should have kneed him in the 'goolies' and stormed out of the restaurant there and then, but instead I laughed - what a compliment! Brutally honest, that's my husband. Truth be told, our love of food is one of the many things my husband and I have in common.

Here are two of my favourite food blogs that make me smile and my tummy grumble.
There are some seriously clever people out there. Katie (What Katie ate) and Steph (Raspberri cupcakes - not a spelling error as she explains) constantly blow my mind. Imagine being this creative!
Maybe I should start doing a weekly baking post? Baking for research. Now there is a clever concept. Katie and Steph just may be on to something.....

  Raspberricupcakes

What Katie Ate

Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks again for reading my little blog. I am having so much fun.

Kate x

Hair do's......

Lets talk hair. For my wedding I grew my hair long. It was thick and blonde and on the day, looked exactly the way I wanted it.
Some 3 months later when I was nearly 12 weeks pregnant, I chopped it all off. As I saw it all falling onto the floor in my haze of hormones (I blame hormones on most of the bad decisions I have made in my life!), I knew I had done the wrong thing.
Since becoming a mother and having very little time to have my hair done, my hair once again is long.
I am loving wearing it in buns and ponytails and not having to straighten it. I have only just discovered Moroccan oil. That stuff is seriously amazing!
However, while I was on pinterest today, I came across these very cool pics. If my hair could be guaranteed to look like this, between you and I, I would chop it all off again in a nano-second.




In the meantime, these styles for longer hair will continue to inspire me - so parisian. I wonder what the girls at work would say if I turned up to shift with one of these very sophisticated her do's?

Bookshelves ...

I am pretty indulgent when it comes to books - I am a regular customer of fishpond. There is nothing better than the escapism a good story can provide. I love the way books look on a shelf but most of all, I am inspired by books with beautiful pictures and photography.
More recently I have started downloading books onto my iPad. Interestingly, I have still found the same enjoyment from reading on my iPad as I would turning the pages of a good book, but when it comes to a delicious glossy magazine, I am not willing to compromise. The excitement of receiving a magazine in the mail is indescribable.
One of my dreams is to one day have a sprawling bookcase in our home with a ladder.
Imagine that.... having so many beautiful books that you needed a ladder to reach them!

All images found via Pinterest

To the cake that should have been ......

We had the in-laws over for dinner on Saturday night. I am not much of a cook, I leave that to my husband, but over the years my baking has improved considerably.
Let's be clear. I don't do healthy cakes. I am more into chocolatey, self indulgent baking. I only bake cakes that make me want to sneak out of bed Nigella style at 2am for a big mouthful :)
A couple of weeks ago I had one of those days where everything just happened seamlessly. Our baby had big long sleeps, the house was spotless and I was able to casually make my husband the most delicious (his words and mine!) chocolate mousse cake for his birthday. I had got the recipe from Bill Granger's cookbook 'Bill's Basics'. Truly delicious.
But like restaurants, sometimes recipes should not be attempted twice.
At my husbands request, I was all ready to make the cake again for our family dinner on Saturday night. What a monumental disaster. As a tipped the cake out of the tin, it literally deflated like a balloon. I have know idea what I did wrong. I ended up buying a pack of chocolate drumsticks as a mediocre compromise, as my day fairly much deteriorated from there :)
So today for my Monday post, let's pay tribute to the cakes that should have been. The cakes that should have been yummy and brought a smile to our dinner guests, but regrettably ended up in the bottom of the bin.
The photos below are one of Donna Hay's chocolatey creations. A dear friend of mine made me a cake just like this for my baby shower. It was absolute heaven.

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

When was your last cooking disaster?

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Ode to Gwyneth

I promise not to do too many posts like this one. I will do my best to stay away from talking about celebrities cause quite frankly, it is boring. With that said, cause this is my blog, today I chose to do a post on Gwyneth. Yes, her taste in baby names may be questionable and she does have the strangest name for her website (www.goop.com), but to me, she is the epitome of elegance and style.

Do you know, as I write this post it has occurred to me that Gwyneth and I have quite a bit in common:

(1) We are both married to rock-stars ;)
(2) I also love yoga! Does contorting my body trying to reach toy cars and plastic blocks from underneath our TV cabinet count?
(3) I also follow a very strict macrobiotic diet - macro being 'large' helpings of carbs daily. Speaking of which, I haven't had a piece of that yummy banana bread from Gloria Jeans in ages! But I digress.

For me it is all about Gwyneth's hair and sense of style. No one makes navy and white stripe look quite as good as Gwyneth. And as for the Oscars dress, amazing...... She can even make a pony tail look chic.

Gwyneth, that movie you did with Huey Lewis was appalling and I even wonder if you now regret having once been engaged to Brad Pitt ( I am over him people, in fact come to think of it, dating Ben Affleck may have been a gross error in judgment too ) but I still think you rock!

Tell Chris I said 'hi' ;)

Garden ideas and a veggie patch

Since moving into our little home, my husband and I have talked endlessly about what we plan to do with our garden.
We are fortunate to have a big backyard but with that, comes 'big' plans. We are 'imaginers' not so much 'doers'.
But this year we are determined to bring our plans to life!
More recently however, I have embarked on a few small projects.
It is no secret that when I first became a mother, I was just a tad anxious - just a tad :)
My husband bless him, came up with the idea that I should use my anxiety for good, not worry about things that I couldn't change for example, how long our baby slept.
With that idea came our first veggie patch. Each day after putting our baby to bed, I would immediately go out to tend lovingly to my veggie patch allowing myself to 'breathe'. As you can see the patch was well 'tended to' - not too bad an effort for my first attempt at a patch!

From this .......

Came this........

With all the rain we have had here in Brisbane over the last couple of months, the veggie patch although initially providing us with many delicious delights, was eaten by caterpillars and grasshoppers. I have now embarked on a 'veggie patch make over'. Will take some photos for you all but not today. Shock horror, it is still raining. I am also going to grow some freesia bulbs as a pre-spring experiment. Over the next couple of months I will provide you with a visual update, as we have other projects that will come to life in that time too.

In the mean time, I will be inspired by my fellow blogger's for further gardening ideas.

www.apartmenttherapy.com

www.cottageandvineblogspot.com.au

http://andwhatalicesaw.tumblr.com/

http://andwhatalicesaw.tumblr.com/

More recently I have been introduced to the concept of terrariums. What do you think? I may have found me another little project!

http://decor8blog.com/

More posts to follow this week. Have been slack due to work and mothering commitments.
Bare with me :)

Kate x

P.S. I am seriously loving this tumblr http://andwhatalicesaw.tumblr.com/

Fairy lights.....

I was destined to be a true lover of fairy lights.
If you could see my parents home at Christmas time you would understand why. I am not talking about "Griswald family style" ugly tacky fairy lights, I am talking about the white twinkly fairy lights that make you smile. Others may disagree but I believe, as does my passionate fairy light loving mother, that fairy lights should be out all year around. Why should a room just be pretty and twinkly at Christmas time?
Even as I write this post my fairy lights are on, twinkling above my kitchen sink, beckoning me to do the dishes - urgh. Admittedly this does not make me smile but that's beside the point people! :)

Christmas tree 2011 - photos by me 

So mock me if you will, but put up some white fairy lights for your next dinner party or even better, in a tree in your garden and see what happens. Even the most dreary of character will be guaranteed to smile approvingly. If they don't, they should leave your house immediately- I am not joking, out the door! Chances are they don't approve of gorgeous tea light candles or second helpings of dessert either ;)

And so ends my first week of blogging :)
Have a great weekend.

Kate x

Kitchens ...

Oh, how I love a good kitchen.
I could include all kinds of grand "Hamptons-esque" kitchens on this blog, but I thought I would keep photos on my blog achievable. Am I loosing my mind? Blogs are all about dreaming. Bring on the Hamptons that's what I say!
Here is a photo of my kitchen - yep, I crack myself up too :)
Seriously, white kitchens look great. Give me white railway tiles in a kitchen any day.

http://daisypinkcupcake.blogspot.com/

I am however, all about colour. This shot is very simple but very me. Even the floor tiles look fantastic!

http://pinterest.com/source/kitchendpi.com/



One day I will definitely have my kitchen with pendant lights and an Aga oven. Hey come on, a girl can dream!

www.decoriz.com via Pinterest

While we are on a roll, butlers sinks are kind of cool too.

http://www.westerbroek.nl via Pinterest

I consider however, this photo the ultimate in kitchens. This kitchen belongs to actor Hank Azaria. I saw this photo on My First Little Place Blog and just loved it...

But in the end, I always come back to white kitchens and simplicity. What are your opinions on open shelving? I have been threatening to take the doors off our kitchen cupboards for months. Other people, namely my husband, are less than enthusiastic at this suggestion.

Cuddles with mum

We have had a couple of weeks of constant illness in our household, which for a variety of reasons has been quite stressful. Thanks goodness we are now on the mend. Onwards and upwards that's what I say!
My little boy and I love nothing more than a cuddle and I have been lucky to get quite a few of late. When you are a busy little man exploring the world, sometimes cuddles with your mum is low on your priority list :) This photo of Princess Diana and Prince Harry makes my heart melt.
I will never, ever have got enough cuddles from my little man.

Sir Hopsalot

With Easter fast upon us, when I saw these pictures on A Cup of Jo this morning via EastSideBride, I just knew Sir Hopsalot had to make a special appearance on my blog. What a cute little fella he is ....

                                                     

New York, New York.....

Happy Monday!
I love New York - remember our trip Mum?
I am pretty sure I would be one happy girl living in this city.
Who cares that we would have no backyard, no living space and would be surrounded by traffic!
It wouldn't matter cause I would have Saks, Macy's, Starbucks, Jcrew and so much more.
New York, I will visit you again. Until then, I will gaze longingly at photos like these.

Photo from Pininterest

To start a blog?

I am taking a risk. I have wanted to start my own blog for a long time but was unsure if I should.
Who would read it after all? More importantly, who would care? I have decided that this doesn't matter. I love being a wife and a mother, but I have realised now more than ever, I need something creative in my life that is all mine. Maybe a blog is just the answer? Who knows.
Either way as you can tell from my blog title (how do you decide on a name for a blog anyway?) and design of my blog thus far, we are starting basic folks. Will have to put an SOS out to my brother for some 'technological assistance'.
Firstly my blog name.. - 'A Little Home' cause I love mine with my boys and 'Freesias' cause well, they are beautiful and were one of the flower's we used on our wedding day. A little home definitely needs flower's after all!
So my first post, where should I start........
I have two words for you, Holly Becker. Holly is the brains behind the blog decor8.
Each day I wait in anticipation for my email to announce a recent blog posting from Holly.
Her work is positively amazing and truly inspirational. Holly recently conducted a workshop in NYC called Blogging Your Way. Oh to be so lucky to have attended that!
One of the workshop participants, Audrey Smit, took this photo...........

I have so many blogs that I look at most days and so many beautiful pics I want to share with you, but this picture sums up exactly the way I feel about style - simple props, beautiful flower's with just the right amount of light. This is styling perfection.
Who says you need a lot of money to create beauty in your home ..... not me.
Stay tuned for more posts. I have so many pics, ideas etc that I can't wait to show you.

Kate x